A wave of hotel renovations across Jamaicas north coast is timed to land before winter 2026, Jamaica Tourist Board officials told the Gleaner, spanning several major resort brands at different stages of the same broad upgrade cycle.
The Royalton CHIC in Runaway Bay is mid-renovation and expansion, targeting a winter 2026 opening. The Royal Decameron Runaway Bay property has been acquired by the Motto family under the Motto Resorts brand and is undergoing minor renovations ahead of a launch in the coming weeks, in time for winter season. Bahia Principe is renovating toward a 750-room capacity in 2026, with plans to break ground on an additional hotel on the same property once that work concludes. Grand Palladium has broken ground on a separate 900-room expansion. Secrets is building a new hotel in St Ann, and the Princess Hotel, which opened the previous December, is preparing to open Jamaicas first hotel-based casino this December.
Jamaica Tourist Board officials framed the renovation wave partly as a deliberate repositioning: a strategic decision made roughly a year earlier to re-engage the luxury segment of the destination, including re-partnering with international brands specifically to signal that shift to the market. Winter airlift capacity is being scaled up to match, with total seats flown to Jamaica for winter 2026 projected up 22 percent year on year, to roughly 365,000 from 293,000 the previous winter, backed by Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing, Air Transat, Caribbean Airlines, and a new Quebec City route launching for the first time through Sunwing and WestJet.
Taken together, the renovations and the new flight capacity are meant to arrive in the same season deliberately: rooms and seats increasing at the same time, rather than one outpacing the other and leaving either empty beds or unmet demand once winter bookings open in earnest.
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